Warsaw, Poland: Ignorance, vodka and the pope

What a title hey? Well, anyway, yesterday evening after I finished playing with words on the computer I went out for a walk and to go to the supermarket. I stumbled upon some sort of parade, there was a full brass band and everything. I finally realized it was some sort of young people's mass or something because the Pope was visiting Poland and has now left. The thing that gave it away was the freakish big posters of good old Benedict they were lugging with them, and the fact that they stopped outside a Catholic church. Mystery solved. So I kinda got caught in this crowd that were singing hymns in Polish and I was getting quite a few looks for just standing there with a dumb look on my face haha.

When I got back to the hostel I decided to be somewhat social and sat in the bar chatting to people. There was this crazy gang of Norwegians smoking hash and drinking beer. They are Reggae DJs doing a Poland tour. There was also an Australian guy who is staying in my dorm and a guy from Manchester with a strong Northern accent that still takes a lot of my concentration to understand despite having being in England for months. We were chatting about random shit... particularly the stoned Norwegians. One of them had some really interesting philosophies about global politics, and you could tell he was very left, very well read, and very stoned. I was being my very straight self until these guys bought out this special Polish vodka to share that you drink with apple juice. I can't remember what it was called (due to it being hard to pronounce, not because of drinking it haha) but it was really nice. I only had two drinks, so I was just chatty :p. Ranted about the state of the world with the well read stoned Norwegian which was interesting. But at least I have tried the national drink of Poland now. Then some poor yanks stumbled in and joined the conversation (which, as in all European hostels, had turned to football aka soccer) and incurred the full wrath of the well read Norwegian's anti-Americanism. And the American guy seemed alright, not a conservative, I kind of felt sorry for him!

Then these German guys came up who we discovered were our other dorm mates and they were hilarious. Due to all the rooms at this hostel being themed, and our room being the "Rainbow dorm" we decided that our little team was "Club Rainbow" which resulted in us creating a whole secret society thing and joking around a lot. The Norwegians and the Aussie guy left to go out, the yanks went to bed, and the Germans and I got kicked out of the hostel bar at 1am and returned to Club Rainbow to continue talking crap and bagging out tourists of other nationalities. Twas a nice bunch, hope I have equally cool cats in my dorm this evening, especially since tonight is the last evening I will be spending in Club Rainbow before heading south to Krakow.

On to ignorance. This Aussie guy was friendly, but had absolutely no clue about the world. He started talking about how the Queen has been great for England setting up public healthcare and that. I couldn't be bitchy enough to tell him the Queen plays no part in policy making in the English government. Then he had absolutely no clue that basically the entire Jewish population of Poland was killed by the Germans. In fact, he didn't know that it was the German invasion of Poland that started WW2. I won't even go on and on about the things he didn't know, but yeah, I was a bit surprised, most travellers do have a bit more of a clue even if they are just on booze and birds trips. He also thought Lithuania was a city in Latvia, and that Latvia was in Russia. And he came over to watch the World Cup in Europe, but kept on talking about when we play China... um it's Japan. Bit of a difference there. OK, need to stop being a bitch now, he seems pretty nice.

And there was a flipside. I was ignorant in some ways too. This guy had been travelling in Brazil and Guatamala and he was telling me how crazy it is over there. I knew it wasn't very safe but I didn't know it was so crazy dangerous. He had been in supermarkets that were basically stormed by gangs, seen tourists being bashed at hostels by the police and a British guy who knew vanished for five days and was found in a hospital with serious head injuries. Sounds crazy. But I imagine this guy would have indulged in a fair amount of nightlife over there, but still.

On the subject of ignorance, I was in some tourist trap pub having a crap meal that was as far from authentic Polish as McDonalds is and I was surrounded by whinging yanks. Complain complain complain. I've really had a gutfull of them lately, although I have met a few good ones, that has far been outnumbered by the amount of whinging ones whose sole purpose in travelling is cheap booze and the opportunity to completely ignore the culture, history and beauty of foreign countries because it is obviously crap compared to America. The classic is when they think people who can't speak English will all of a sudden be able to understand it if they just start speaking more loudly and slowly. Hands are meant for sign language kids, it usually does the trick.

If ignorance is bliss, they must be in bloody Nirvana!

Warsaw, Poland: I came, I saw, I Warsaw-ed

I'm just stressing over a travel article at the mo... trying to write some proper stuff, but these darn foreign countries are not only full of inspiration, but also distractions!

Today I went up the top of that crazy Stalin style building I posted a pic of yesterday, great view. Wandered around some more. Took loads of photos. Tomorrow I am doing the two main museums which should be interesting.

Here is a zany pic of me in my hostel room;



And here is a pic of my zany hostel room:



It's called the Rainbow room, each room has a different theme at this hostel. Slightly nuts!

SNAPSHOT: Vilnius, Lithuania: People are People

A cool photo I took in Uzupis, a part of Vilnius that is quite arty and bohemian and has declared itself it's own republic. People are people... damn straight.



The American guy is now making sweeping generalizations about third world countries, and has just admitted he knows nothing about Native American history. Kill me now.

Poland: Welcome to Warsaw

I'm in Poland now, quite tired from the overnight bus. Warsaw is pretty impressive, especially since it was totally rebuilt after the war. I'm staying in a cute hostel called Oki Doki, it has free wifi (yay) and very funky decor... except I'm in a five bed dorm, and the other four beds are occupied by a Swedish family which is slightly isolating.

There is this really really annoying American rambling on about economics and foreign policy and he has absolutely no clue. He basically proposes that foreign countries should just deal with tourists and we shouldn't be expected to respect their culture or beliefs or traditions because we are foreigners. Ick. The scary thing is that he has been to lots of countries... so he has no excuse for ignorance... and he is so loud that I can see the people at reception want to slap him. Grr. Very annoying. But I had a really interesting conversation with a young American girl about the ramifications of their conservative domestic policy. You win some, you lose some.

Speaking of Americans, there were two on the nightbus with me. One was from the hostel I stayed in at Vilnius. A young guy, who seems somewhat disenchanted with life and travel and I can't really figure him out. Sometimes he is friendly and chatty, sometimes distant... always cynical. The other guy was older, and seemed to have travelled extensively, except he was in a perpetual state of panic and ran around the bus station "do you speak English" in trying to find the way in to the city. If he had taken time and looked at signs, it really wasn't that difficult. Then he was lamenting about "I've never been to a city where so few people speak English". It was 7am at a suburban bus station. Really, what do you expect? Sigh.

A small piece of advice... never buy a kebab in Poland from an Indian. You end up with this crazy fusion that just does not work. Polish coleslaw, kebab meat, with some sort of spicy indian sauce. Very weird, very wrong.

The rain seems to have followed me, but there ain't anything you can do about that. Stay tuned...

Oh and here is two photos from Warsaw just for good measure:



Stalin style anyone?



A sculpturein the Old Town Square in Warsaw

Vilnius, Lithuania: Rain, rain go away...

Today has been very rainy, making sightseeing very hard. I went to the KGB museum though which was really interesting, but also shocking and somewhat sickening. The torture cells and the execution rooms really made me feel ill and upset, but it was interesting and I learnt a lot by visiting.

Other than that I have tried to avoid the rain. Waiting now to catch my night bus to Warsaw... it's a very boring wait. Glad that the hostel people don't seem to care that I am still hanging out here even though I haven't paid for a room tonight.

I've been in a funny mood today... not sure what kind of mood it actually is. Maybe it's just a rainy-day-torture-cell-visiting kind of melancholy.

I'm also dreading this nightbus...ugh I will be so tired when I get to Warsaw and I can't check in until three in the afternoon or so. Oh well... tis life.

Trakai, Lithuania: Trippin to Trakai

Today I took a day trip to the town of Trakai which is just a little way outside Vilnius and is home to the only castle in Lithuania. It was a very pretty place, the castle was surrounded by two lakes. Not excitement central, but pretty none the less.

Tomorrow is my last day in Vilnius, and in Lithuania. I'm catching the overnight bus to Warsaw in Poland tomorrow. Should be interesting... and tiring.

Oh and I'm sure you will all be pleased to hear that the hot water is fixed, and I bought a new hairbrush :p

Tonight I went for dinner with a fellow backpacker Ina and we went to Cili Kaimas, which is like a chain restaurant selling amazing Lithuanian food. So yummy!

Vilnius, Lithuania: I have a confession to make...

to those in internet land. I am a smelly dirty backpacker. And I didn't do my hair this morning. If you could smell my blog right now, it would have the aroma of a teenage boy's bedroom. Actually, it would smell like my brother. Yuck!

Not through my own fault though. I think I wrote in Klaipeda how the hostel had no hot water... well, this morning I went to have a shower and, yep, no hot water again. Problem with the gas at this hostel. So I tried to have a freshen up but the water was numbingly cold. I wanted to wash my hair, but there was no way I was doing it in that freezing water.

Plus, I then discovered I had somehow lost my hairbrush between Riga and Vilnius.

But I have done one thing to improve my appearance. I abandoned my shoes that were now completely split open at the sides and bought a nice new pair of Nike sneakers. They are silver and red. Sexy! My poor dirty smelly blister covered feet seem quite thankful, but they are still aching a bit. I don't know how brilliant the fit is because they don't seem to fit shoes in Lithuania, you just try them on yourself and decide, but they seem comfortable and supportive enough. And they were a bit cheaper than they would have cost in Australia, and probably a lot cheaper than they would have cost in the UK.

OK, I'm going to leave the internet cafe and go and repulse other people with my dishevelled and smelly state. Ick! I hope they fix the gas quickly.

Vilnius, Lithuania: Photos

Here are just a few of the photos I took while wandering around Vilnius in the evening yesterday. The sun sets very late in this part of the world and when it does set it can be very spectacular. Vilnius is well known for it's many churches (wow... how unique in Europe haha), and you can probably see from these few photos.








Lots more photos can be viewed at my Flickr account.

Riga, Latvia: Photos

Sunset in Riga Old Town



Soldiers standing guard at the Freedom Monument



Some of the Art Nouveaux architecture the city is famous for



An old bistro- Soviet style.



At the amazing central market behind the train station.

Vilnius, Lithuania: Another day, another country

I'm back in Lithuania after catching the bus down to the capital city of Vilnius from Riga today. Had a minor panic when the bus driver almost drove off from the border checkpoint without my passport, because I was the only one of the bus that had to have it stamped, everyone else was Lithuanian, so the guard had taken it to stamp it and the bus driver didn'trealize and thought we were done. That was a bit of a fright but luckily my frantic calls of "my passport" and flailing arms were enough to halt the bus!

Vilnius seems really nice, I haven't seen a lot yet but the old town looks quite large and very scenic. There is also apparently a bohemian artsy area which has declared itself an independent republic, so I am keen to check that out tomorrow.

Hmm, I don't really have much else to tell. I have been pretty dull really when it comes to socializing or going out but I'm not the sort to go to a bar on my own and in the hostels I have been in they have either been quiet with nice people or I haven't really clicked with people enough to hit the town with them. It's a shame, because the drinks are quite cheap and there are some interesting sounding local spirits.

But yeah, another night, another hostel, more blisters, but more knowledge every day. It's definately an adventure to tell the grandkids about.

Riga, Latvia: Why Aussies?

Why are nearly all tourists in Eastern Europe Australians? Nearly every tourist I met has been Aussie... I've heard a few American accents about and a couple of British... in Lithuania there were a handful of Germans... but overwhelmingly it's Australians. Which is kind of strange since we come from the other side of the world. And in the parts of Lithuania I visited there weren't many tourists full stop.

Maybe it's because I'm staying in hostels and young Australians are quite intrepid travellers.

I am also noticing a considerable lack of girls travelling to Eastern Europe on their own. Lots of guys, no girls.

Two guys (Australians funnily enough) that are staying in this dorm tonight are talking about going out... apparently the clubs don't get going until 1am and they are going to drink in the room first. Lucky I got a good sleep last night...

Anyway, today I checked out the sights of Riga, it's quite a nice city with lovely gardens and amazing Art Nouveau architecture. Most of the Old Town is for pedestrians only so it's a great place to wander around. The Ice Hockey World Championships were on here so all sorts of official stuff is always going on and the city is looking it's very best. I went to the Occupation Museum and learnt about the German and Soviet occupation of Latvia. It was very interesting and eye opening and something I didn't know much about.

My feet are starting to really hurt though, I need to buy new sneakers all the support has gone in my pair and the stitching is coming undone, and of course I have been walking so much this week. I don't think the Baltic diet has done much for my waistline though, it's not exactly healthy!

Riga, Latvia: Porn and violins

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Riga on the main town square. On one side of me, a dirty old man is sitting looking at porn. Yuck. On the other side of me is a window overlooking the square where a duo are playing beautiful music on the violin, the sun is slowly crawling in to bed and people are strolling leisurely. And I'm the monkey in the middle, and the keyboard and mouse on this computer are greasy and dirty and I'm hoping it wasn't a dirty old man like the one by my side that used this computer last. Yuck.

Riga, Latvia: Chilling

I've just spent a day wandering and chilling in Riga. I was contemplating dashing off on one of those day trips to some nearby place, but to be fair I couldn't be bothered. Just enjoying the city and stuff like that.

This morning I went down to the markets which were an amazing venue for people watching (a passionate pursuit of mine). The fruit and vegetables were amazingly fresh and I could smell the sweet juicyness of the strawberries (wow that sentence is slightly ponographic)...

The meats and bakery products were sold inside these massive old Soviet aircraft hangers. I got many a chuckle out of watching the meat handling... women putting raw chicken in to bags with their bare hands... dead animal carcasses soon to be chopped in to more manigible portions strewn out on dirty old trolleys sitting in the middle of the market where anyone could cough or sneeze all over it. Very humorous... until one thinks that is probably where all the meat I have been eating is coming from!

I wanted to buy some strawberries but the stallholders didn't speak English and for some reason wouldn't serve me... they were talking in Latvian and laughing amongst themselves and eventually I gave up. I tried at another stall, but there she didn't understand that I didn't want one kilogram of them, just a small bag. So I left strawberry-less. I bought a belasi though, which is some kind of bread meat parcel thing that is reasonably tasty.

Then I wandered for a while, bought some postcards and sat in the park and wrote on them, and just generally chilled... walked some more, I'm very tempted by all the amber stalls, but I think it was cheaper in Lithuania so I will hold out until I am back there. An amber necklace or bracelet can be my one souvenier from the Baltic.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Lithuania, to check out the capital Vilnius.

Lithuania: After the storm

I've just dumpeed my pack down on the floor in a ten bed dorm of a hostel in Riga, Latvia (yes... a different country than I was in before) and bliss of blisses... it has wifi internet access! For free! It's a bit slow, but still it makes me a happy happy girl.

I've had a hectic couple of days after leaving the lovely Klaipeda. I travelled to Siauliau which isn't that big a place, and hiked about 2km out of town searching for the HI hostel. I started to go past all these icky old Soviet apartment blocks. Ok, that's fine, seen plenty of them here. The apartments begin to get shabbier and shabbier. Ok, whatever. Then, there is no longer tar on the road. Ok, getting a bit rural now. But the map says it shouldn't be much further. Keep going. People's large dogs jump up against the fences and scare me, and I am starting to notice farm animals in people's front yards. Most of the houses look like a strong wind could finish them off. OK, must be nearly there. Finally find the address, located at which there is a scary looking building that reminds me of a Soviet orphanage I saw in some doco. Go in. A scary lady says loudly "NO go back". I am like huh! "NO BEDS". Right. OK. Then am left to walk all the way back to town, and I am sticking out like a sore thumb walking around a semi rural area of Lithuania with my backpack. Fun fun.

Anyway, luckily I made it back to town just in time to get to the tourism office before it closed, and they found me a room in a college... that was actually in town. Fine... but the time I wasted meant I couldn't go to the Hill of Crosses (my sole reason for going to this town) until the next morning.

Next morning comes, I get up really early and catch the bus 10km out of town to go to the Hill of Crosses. As soon as I get on the bus, it starts to piss down rain. Tops. The bus is funny, it has khaki curtains and a flower arrangement all around the front windows in a demented "w" shape... I think the driver's wife had been adding special touches. So I get out in the countryside, and then have to walk 2km through the countryside to find the hill. It was a pretty cool sight, I will post pics. So then I see that the next bus is coming soon so I rush back to the bus stop to get it, only to note that the sign says "not Sundays". The next bus doesn't come for an hour, so I am left to stand in in the pouring rain in the middle of the Lithuanian countryside (like, there was nothing around it except grass and trees) for an hour. I've never been so happy to see a bus in my life. The Lithuanian countryside is very beautiful and green... but not very enjoyable in the pouring rain. My shoes are still squelching.

Then I had to check out, and catch a bus to Riga. I had to wait another two hours for the bus, and there wasn't anything to do in Siauliai because most of the shops are closed on Sunday. Fun fun. I caught the bus, where there was a really nice Aussie guy on it (very hot as well!) and we chatted once we realized we were both Australian after pulling out our passports at the Latvian border.

Riga seems really nice, I've already seen a lot of it rushing around trying to find this damn hostel. But free wifi was worth it.

Now I can kick back and explore this place for several days before heading back to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

Lithuania: A couple of interesting things

Since I am giddy with delight at having wifi access and nobody else in my 10 bed dorm room (yay!) here are a few interesting-slash-funny-slash-random things about Lithuania.

1. People here drive quite crazily! They swerve all over the road and are quite aggressive when cutting each other off and overtaking. Apparently, according to a guide we had when we went to the missile base, a lot of people in the countryside drive while drunk. She told us this while swerving wildly around corners and talking on her mobile phone. Even some of the bus drivers talk on their mobiles while on the road!

2. The food is quite tasty, but mostly consists of potatoes and meat. Other vegetables are hard to come by. A salad will usually be doused with mayonaise... and often contain no lettuce at all. Zeppelins (Ceppelini) are these stuffed potato things that are like the national dish. They are quite yummy, but very filling. Potato pancakes are also pretty tasty. At the supermarkets here you can get all kinds of interesting things. At the Iki supermarket in Klaipeda, they even had live fish tanks in the supermarket! Some of the food is a bit strange by western standards, but it's worth trying anyway.

3. The buses here are so funny. I was in a mini bus the other day that had actually been on fire at some stage... i.e. the ceiling was burnt. Some of the buses are old clunky bombs that cough out dark clouds of smoke. Some of them are new. A lot of them have character. Minibuses with 1970's decor like bright orange curtains. A bus I rode in today had khaki curtains and an arrangement of pink faux flowers all around the front windows. Very funny!

4. The locals kind of stare at backpackers and tourists, I think because tourism here is a relatively new thing. It can be a bit disconcerting sometimes, but it's harmless.

That's all for now, more later.

Lithuania: Photos

Some of the remains at the Soviet Missile Base near Klaipeda



One of the wooden sculptures on Witches Hill, Juodkante (Neringa)



Me at Nida (Neringa)



At the Hill of Crosses, Siauliai



Another at the weird but wonderful Hill of Crosses, Siauliai

You can see more at Flickr.

Klaipeda, Lithuania: A fresh catch

Today I wandered around Klaipeda for a bit, went down to the markets where the fruit and veg are devinely sprawled out on tables fresh from the surrounding local farms... pointed at some kind of bread thing to have for breakfast and as with most Lithuanian food it ended up having meat inside it... the weather today was very cold, there was a bitter wind and a thick fog.

So because of the weather... I decided to bus further up the coast to the seaside town of Palanga where it was very foggy and even windier than in Klaipeda. But it was a really nice town, cool seaside despite the crappy weather. There is like this massive sea bridge boardwalk thing that goes about half a km out to the ocean, so you can walk on water. I really enjoyed standing on it, watching the fisherman dangling their lines in to the swirling sea... waiting, waiting... then a jerk and they pull back on the line and long silver fish fly through the air, landing on the wooden slats of the boardwalk. They flip flop and squirm, fishermans hands scramble to catch them. Or the stomp of a heavy foot falling halts their tantrum. Sometimes the fishermen bang their heads against the railing, then throw them in to a hessian bag. It was interesting to watch. Some people would approach the fisherman to buy the still slightly moving fish... a fresh catch indeed.

I want to write some travel articles about my adventures... anyone got any ideas for places that take freelance travel writing (and that preferably pay)... my writing is usually much better and more fluent and actually proofread, don't take my hastily written blog as the main example :p

Klaipeda, Lithuania: Finding the real Lithuania

Today I went to Neringa, otherwise known as the Curacian spit, which was a really stunning coastal area that fronts the baltic sea. It's a thin strip of land and on one side is the baltic sea and on the other a beautiful lagoon. Very nice indeed. Great little coastal towns with a laid back vibe. Also went to an amber museum.

Then this group of us from the hostel in Klaipeda went on a road trip to a fomer Soviet missile base and did a tour, it was really interesting and not something that you would normally do as a tourist. It was freaky to think that nuclear missiles to blow up the world were stored here. It was where the missles sent to Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis were from. It was the first and biggest missile base in the USSR. Very interesting and worthwhile. We also got to quiz our guide on what life was like during Soviet times as well as after the transition to independence in 1991. Very interesting to get personal accounts about life in Lithuania at that time. Eye-opening.

Finished off the day with a zeppelin, which is a traditional Lithuanian potato dish. Very yummy, not very healthy though! Potato forms the basis of most local dishes.

Not sure what tomorrow holds. Hopefully more fun and adventure.

Klaipeda, Lithuania: Cold showers

Klaipeda has had an accident and there is no hot water in the town brrr. Cold shower!

But today I am going to see the Curacian Spit which is apparently beautiful and a Soviet missile base which should be tops.

Gotta run.

Klaipeda, Lithuania: Cold showers

Klaipeda has had an accident and there is no hot water in the town brrr. Cold shower!

But today I am going to see the Curacian Spit which is apparently beautiful and a Soviet missile base which should be tops.

Gotta run.